The author, Brian Shul, is a Vietnam-era USAF fighter
pilot. He flew 212 combat missions and was shot down near the end of the
war. He was so badly burned that he was given next to no chance to live.
Surviving against tremendous odds, he returned to full flight status, flying
the SR-71 Blackbird. Major Brian Shul completed a 20 year career in the
Air Force. He has written four books on aviation and runs a photo studio in
Marysville, California.

Veteran’s Day Address

March ARB Museum

November 11, 2001

Thank you so much for the invitation
to speak today.As many times as
I have done so around this country, I still admit to a slight case of butterflies
as I hear my name introduced…..which is really no problem as long as you
get them all to fly in close formation.

I am not here today as some
war hero, or famous person.All I
did was leave my plane in the jungles of Viet Nam one day, and was lucky
enough to survive the experience.
You know, they say a good landing is one you can walk away from, and a great
landing is when you can use the airplane again.Well I did neither, and I address you today, as simply a fellow
American citizen.

Since the events of September
11th, I hear a lot of people saying “God Bless America”.I believe God has blessed America, in many ways, from the
very inception of this nation over 200 years ago.What were the odds that at the very time the colonies decided to
break from the British Empire, that there would be a group of men in the
new world, with the intellect and vision to shape that process?

God truly blessed us with the collective perceptive
genius of men like Jefferson, Adams, Washington, Franklin, and others, who
all came together, in those colonies, at the exact moment in history when
a nation was born.And who would
have bet that a group of upstart colonists, with little resources, and even
less of an army, could take on, and defeat, the mighty British Empire?But they did, and a country was born.

And when the fabric of this
country was torn with a great Civil War, God Blessed this nation with the
wisdom and leadership of a President Lincoln, who made the difficult choices,
so that this nation would survive as one.

And when the United States
was thrust into World War II with a vicious attack on our forces at Pearl
Harbor, God Blessed this nation with a populace that rose to the challenge,
both on the home front and the battlefield.No finer chapter in human history can be told of sacrifice, courage,
and resolve, than the countless stories of American soldiers, sailors, airman
and Marines during four years of the greatest global conflict the world has
ever known.Some of you here today
were a part of that generation that we now appropriately refer to as “the
greatest generation”.If World War
II left us scarred with its inhumanity, then it also left us the legacy of
hope by those who made so many sacrifices, and fought to victory, to insure
the flame of freedom still burns.

Yes, I believe God has blessed this nation in many ways, although sometimes
we forget just how fortunate we really are………and now, after a horrific attack
on our homeland, we find ourselves embattled in a war once again.And yet, there are many who seem unsure of the response we should
take.Today, we honor so many who
have given their lives, in defense of this country……row upon row of tombstones,
silent vigils to their ultimate sacrifice.If the dead could speak today, they would tell you that all it takes
for evil to succeed in the world is for good people to stand by and do nothing.They would emphatically declare to you that you negotiate with the
enemy with your knee in his chest and your knife at his throat.And they would remind you that those who forget their history, are
condemned to repeat it.

We are a nation guilty of forgetting these lessons.Had we learned them better, our cemeteries would be less full.

We fought a Cold War for so
long, that perhaps we became weary and complacent, and when we won that war,
we became soft.We indulged ourselves
in the notion that the world was all-safe, and we thought a booming economy
was ample substitute for a strong military.Did we really think electing self-serving politicians would make
us stronger as a nation?Somehow
we came to accept the notion that freedom was free.It never has been.The price
of freedom has always been eternal vigilance.We need to understand that there are those in the world who would
destroy us because our way of life threatens their quest for world domination.

This place we love, that we call America, is not just a place, it is an idea.An idea manifested in its people, a very diverse people.I heard a college student on TV the other day say that if a mandatory
draft was imposed, he would head for Canada, as he had already mapped out
his career, and serving in the military was just not in his plans.

Not in his plans…….I wonder
if the young boys on the beaches at Normandy had other plans, as their dead
bodies washed ashore in a sea of red.
I’m sure the young men who found themselves in the jungles of Viet Nam, watching
their buddies die in an unnamed rice patty fighting an unseen enemy had other
plans.I guess those men and women
surprised at Pearl Harbor one morning had all their plans rearranged in ways
they could never have imagined.The
people at the World Trade Center have no more plans.

But in this diversity, also comes
our strength as a nation.All may
speak, and the will of the majority will be heard.Though we may disagree, we are all Americans and live under the
same flag.That beautiful flag that
has become such a symbol of freedom to the world.For those who have fought on foreign soil, they understand better
than most the importance of this flag, and the strength derived from its
presence.

This flag was carried in the
Revolutionary War, though it had many less stars, by men too weary, and under
equipped to expect victory, but persevere they did, and a nation was born,
with a new flag.

This flag battle worn and tattered,
flew high on the mast of John Paul Jones’ ship, when he showed the enemy
what true resolve was.

And brave men, raised this flag on a God forsaken island in the Pacific called
Iwo Jima, and became part of the most memorable photograph of the 20
th Century.That picture of
our flag, raised high by our Marines during the bloodiest battle in their
history, did more for the morale of the American people than any other picture
or film of the entire war.This weekend
marks the Marine Corps birthday, and to all those Marines in the crowd, I
salute you, and thank you for your service.For those of you who have not toured the Marine Memorial in Washington,
DC, I highly recommend it.Inscribed
on the marble sides of the monument you will find the words, “When uncommon
valor was a common virtue”.You will
also see the stars and stripes waving proudly from its top.

This flag or ours was even carried to
the moon, by men with a vision, and the courage to see it through.And this same flag has been raised amidst the rubble of the World
Trade Center, as a reminder to those who would think they could destroy this
nation so easily.

I can
tell you personally, that just seeing that red, white, and blue banner can
mean so much.As I lay in a hospital
bed, unable to move, I can clearly remember seeing out the window, the very
large Garrison flag, flown on Sundays, waving majestically from its pole.Just seeing it gave me an inner strength and motivation that I know,
in some way, helped me to be where I am today.

I can also remember years later, while fighting terrorism in Libya, my backseater
and I were piercing the sky above Mohammar Khaddafi in our SR-71, dodging
the missiles he sent after us.As
we turned toward the Mediterranean, I clearly recall the reflection of the
American Flag patch on the arm of my space suit, visible in the rear view
mirror.Now, don’t ask me why we
had rear view mirrors on the world’s fastest jet, I can assure you, no one
was gaining on us.But just seeing it gave me a sense of security, and reminded me that we were
a part of something much bigger, and better than the land we had just imprinted
with our sonic boom.

I have always found it interesting that those arguing for the right to burn
the flag, are usually the least willing to defend those rights, and are made
free and kept so by better men than themselves.

When I see the rows of American flags today at cemeteries
across this nation, I know those we are honoring, if they could speak, would
tell you thanks and how proud they are to have that flag flying by their
name.

This will not be an easy struggle
for us, this new type of terrorist war.I pray of our leaders.Some
have questioned if President Bush is up to this great challenge.I recall the quote of Admiral “Bull” Halsey in World War II when
he said, “There are no great men, only great circumstances, and how they
deal with those circumstances will determine the outcome of history.”I believe God has blessed this nation with good men, strong men,
in leadership positions today.Men
not afraid to make the difficult decisions.Men who understand that nothing in our history tells us that preserving
and protecting this free nation would ever be easy.

America is only as strong as
its people.We are the caretakers
of all that our forefathers created, and fought for.It is now our turn to show resolve and preserve those precious freedoms
that we have for too long taken for granted.The enemy that knows it cannot defeat us on the battlefield, will
try to defeat us through fear and dissension amongst ourselves.Wars are not won only on the field of battle, but are won by the
will of the people.

I take heart that this nation will be strong.Even while the first shot was still being fired, brave Americans
aboard Flight 93 took a stand and fought back.They were the first heroes of this war.In a terrorist war of this type, we are all soldiers.We must remain resolved, focused, and committed to defeating this
most heinous of enemies.While our
soldiers fight the enemy on his home front, we must endure on our own home
front, the tiresome wailings of liberal newscasters who seem to think that
our military is the enemy, as they over-scrutinize every move they make,
smugly reporting every civilian casualty as if it represents a failing of
some sort.We must also endure a
media that is capable of only criticizing our own government.Personally I believe we are winning the war on both fronts.

And we must win, as this is
truly a nation that must be preserved.
We represent the freedom that so many people on this earth seek.It is why everyone wants to come to this country.But so few can really understand this nation.We are a two-edged sword, united but full of disagreement.We exercise capitalistic greed frequently, yet have been the most
gracious humanitarian nation on earth.
We are the high-tech of Silicon Valley and the heartland of the Midwest.An impatient people, yet tremendously resilient in difficult times.

I can remember, after the Cold
War was over, speaking with a former Soviet Mig pilot.He marveled over how our country could produce a plane such as the
SR-71.He said the image he had of
our country was one of decadence, Hollywood, and discarded products.He could not understand how we could have built a plane with such
integrity that would last so long and remain the world’s record holder in
speed and altitude for all these years.I told him that indeed, we were a nation of excesses, and even ignorance
at times, but that when men are free, all things are possible.With
all our faults, warts and all, we are still the greatest nation on earth…..

From the Declaration of Independence and the Monroe Doctrine, to Disneyland
and Donald Duck…we are the USS Missouri pounding enemy shores, flying the
stars and stripes, to Mickey Mantle in pinstripes pounding American Leaguepitching…from John Phillip Sousa to Elvis Presley…we are Mark Twain,
and Microsoft…Charles Lindbergh and Paris, to Charley Brown and Peanuts…we
are a nation that went from Kitty Hawk to Tranquility Base, in less than
70 years.Who can truly understand
this greatness that is America, unless they have lived it?And who would dare to try and destroy us?

As we pause today to remember those heroes of our past, it should give us
strength as we recall their commitment and resolve.Let us also remember today, those veterans who are still alive,
and give them our thanks before they too pass from our ranks.And all those men and women serving on active duty today, far from
home, performing their duty with little thanks or recognition.Before you leave today, take time to walk around the grounds and
view the planes on display, and appreciate what they meant in our nations
history, and think about the crews who flew them and helped to win victories
in WW II, Korea, Viet Nam, and played an integral part in the winning of
the cold war.Each one has a story.

The preservation
of this nation is in our hands- there will be no points for second place.Wave your flag proudly today, salute it, honor it.Long may it wave.

Author is Brian Shul, Major, USAF
(Ret). Brian is a Guest Speaker at many Aviation events throughout the country.
His presentation includes a slide show of his incredible SR-71 photography. If
you wish to include Brian as a Guest Speaker at your next forthcoming event,
contact me and I will forward your request on to him. Contact: sr71webmaster@wvi.com